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India's financial services ecosystem is undergoing a major transformation, thanks to digital technologies. Consumer demand for fast, secure services is increasing, and with it, the ability to collect and use financial data has become vital. The Account Aggregator (AA) framework, introduced in 2021, facilitates secure, consent-based data sharing among institutions, benefiting from this shift.
In the recent episode of the Analytics Insight Podcast, host Priya Diyalani reveals this change along with Nikhil Kurhe, CEO of Finarkein. The conversation revolves around the basic understanding of account aggregation and the far-reaching consequences of the technology, investing, and automation in BFSI.
Priya begins the discussion with a common industry concern: financial data remains fragmented across silos, and AAs are often misunderstood as simple connectors. Kurhe strongly counters this notion, stating, “The account aggregator ecosystem is definitely more than just a data sharing pipe.” He adds that it has become “the baseline or the benchmark for how effectively data sharing in the country is going to work going forward.”
According to Nikhil, post the Data Protection Act, the role of account aggregators has become more important. He notes that regulators beyond financial services are now exploring similar consent-driven frameworks. “Data beyond financial data will also be part of the account aggregator ecosystem in the near future,” he explains, pointing to GST and income tax data gradually entering the consented sharing model.
Finarkein’s journey began with the RBI’s open finance vision and inspiration from UPI’s success. “Access to financial data was essentially getting democratized in a tech-first, machine-readable, API-driven ecosystem,” Nikhil recalls. Today, Finarkein provides compliant access to consented data, advanced analytics, and embedded finance solutions.
Dispelling another myth, the CEO of Finarkein emphasizes that while the ecosystem is still expanding, it is already delivering results. “Large enterprises…are today live and operational on the account aggregator and are seeing meaningful business values and outcomes,” he says, citing public acknowledgements from major financial institutions.
As India’s digital public infrastructure evolves, the Account Aggregator framework is emerging as a cornerstone, allowing trust, usability, and scalable innovation across the financial ecosystem.
